Sicario: Day of the Soldado Review

Tweet

Sicario, a film brilliantly directed by Denis Villeneuve, was critically acclaimed for being a gritty and entertaining crime action thriller. Now we have the sequel, titled Sicario: Day of the Soldado, and it’s surprisingly a good follow-up to the first instalment. Directed by Stefano Sollima, the film still brings the brutality from the previous movie while incorporating some new elements into the narrative. It’s unfortunate that Villeneuve isn’t back to direct the sequel, although the brilliant Taylor Sheridan manages to come up with another fascinating script to yet again give the audience a great time at the movie theatre.

Taking place after the events of the first Sicario, Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) finds out that the Mexican drug cartels have been trafficking terrorists across the U.S. border, and teams up with his partner Alejandro Gillick (Benicio Del Toro) to stop this from happening. They then come across Isabela Reyes (Isabela Moner), the daughter of a kingpin, and kidnap her in order to incite conflict with the cartels. The two sides are now at war with each other, and that’s the basic premise of Sicario: Day of the Soldado.

Once again, Josh Brolin and Benecio Del Toro kill it as the lead characters. After seeing Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2, this summer should officially be known as the Brolin blockbuster season! These two guys have so much fun embracing their roles, and they bring a lot of grittiness to their performances. Also, Isabela Moner is a nice addition to the already talented cast. She redeems herself from the awful film Transformers: The Last Knight, and makes her character quite interesting and complex.

Unfortunately, Emily Blunt isn’t back for the sequel, and her absence is definitely noticeable throughout the film. Obviously she has been too busy filming A Quiet Place and couldn’t find a way to star in the movie. While Brolin and Del Toro still bring out great performances, their characters are pretty underdeveloped at times. It’s also disappointing to mention the fact that these two actors don’t have a lot of screen time with each other.

The gritty action you love from the first movie is in here and they don’t hold anything back. Whenever you hear guns being shot, you feel like you’re actually there in the war zone between the cartel and the US border officers. When people die, it’s pretty rough to watch. Director Stefano Sollima still does a good job showcasing the brutality that Denis Villeneuve portrayed in the previous instalment.

While Villeneuve and Blunt’s presence are missed throughout the film, Sicario: Day of the Soldado is still a worthy follow-up to the first movie. If you’re expecting this instalment to be better than the original, you might be disappointed. However, if you just want to see an entertaining and gritty crime thriller starring a talented cast of actors and showcasing stunning action sequences, you might enjoy it. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed hoping that Emily Blunt might return for the third film.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado is now playing in theatres.